A SINCERE ATTEMPT ON GOVERNMENT PART IS REQUIRED TO ABOLISH CHILD LABOUR

It's been a quarter of a century since India banned Child Labour in hazardous work. And it's been many years that the country has banned child labour. Yet, the country still holds the record of the largest employer of children in the world. This goes against the growing stature of India as an economic superpower. The occasion of World Anti Child Labour Day is the time to reevaluate our law and programmes, that promise children a better life.


Child labor is widely prevalent in some form or the other, all over the world. According to the International LaborOrganization (ILO) approximately 246 million children between the age of five and 15 are engaged as child labour. However, India is leading with 12.6 million children in that age group employed in economic activities.

Some Non-Government Organizations are active in ending the system by mainstreaming these children into education. Such as, 12-year old Gopal who used to work as a rag-picker now studying in a Non Formal Education center and willing to do a respectable job in future.

"Earlier I used to pick rag. Now I don’t do that work. Now I go to school, then tuition. I want to do a good job when I grow up. I used to get only 10-20 rupees a day picking rags," said he.

But unfortunately not all are as lucky as Gopal. They are involved in domestic work, factory work, agriculture, mining work or business like selling food and many other hazardous works to meet the ends. To end this a lot more needs to be done on government and social level, as present legislation seemingly is not yielding much results.

The government has made education a fundamental right of children. But many, like activist Swami Agnivesh, who is working for Bonded Labour Liberation Front, find that at ground level there is not much of difference in the scenario.

"Very recently education became a fundamental right and the government now talks about free and compulsory education for all children but this is only something which the government prefaces. But in practice it is being really failed. It is not being sincerely implemented. The government owns plea that there are not sufficient budget, there is not much water in this. Therefore we have been fighting and fighting the best to abolish all forms of child labor and child bonded labor system to provide good quality and full time formal education to all children," said swami Agnivesh.

On the other hand National Commission for Protection of Child Right consider child labour as a grave human issue and finds loopholes in Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act, 1986 behind the increasing number ofchild labour. To take effective steps NCPCR has submitted an Action Plan to Delhi Govt. Now High Court has directed government to implement this plan with immediate effect for making education a reality for every child.

Lov Verma, Secretary, National Commission for Protection of Child Right said, "As far as NCPCR is concerned we appointed a working group in 2008 and we have come up with recommendation which we have shared with the Government authorities and we are trying to push them, get them to be adopted. On that we have said that the definition of a child should be till 18 years of age. And all forms of child labour should be abolished."

Education is seen as the biggest antidote to this social evil. Yet, so far efforts have yielded very little results, despite government legislations. However, voices across social spectrum are crying out for a more plausible solution. Is there an end is sight? that's for time to tell.